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UNITED STATES OF AiVlERJCA. ^ 



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[F.OURTH edition: 









"WHAT IS THE TRUTH?" 



OR, 



PILATE'S QUESTION ANSWERED 



kriptxiral €xp05iti0n 



aOSPEL. OF THE KINGDOM. 



. ' BY JOHN THOMAS, M.D., 

Author of ''ELPIS ISRAEL," ''EUREKA," etc. 






LONDON: GEORGE JOHN STEVEl 
NIOHOLS, SON & CO.; 

BIRMINGHAM: ISSUED BY THE CHRISTADELPHIAN PUBLICATION 

SOCIETY, ATHEN^UM ROOMS, TEMPLE ROW, WHERE IT MAY BE 

OBTAINED OF ROBERT ROBERTS. 

PRICE TWOPENCE. 



^^WHAT IS THE TKUTH?'' 



PILATE'S QUESTION ANSWEEED 



SCEIPTURAL EXPOSITION 



GOSPJEL OF TELE KIISraDOM. 



BY JOHN THOMAS, M.D.. 

Author of ''ELPIS ISBAEL," '"EUREKA," etc. 

y7 

^- / FOURTH EDITION. 

/ 1 #-6 

LONDON: 

GEORGE JOHN STEVENSON, 54, PATERNOSTER ROW; 

NICHOLS, SON & Co., 11, LONG ACRE. 

BIRMINGHAM!: 

ISSUED BY THE CHRISTADELPHIAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY, ATHEN-^EUM ROOMS, 
TEMPLE ROW, WHERE IT MAY BE OBTAINED OP ROBERT ROBERTS, 

1871. 



.T55 
WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 



The Anglo-Saxon word gospel is euanghelion in the Greek. This 
is a word compounded of ew, an adverb of quality, signifying 
" good ; " and anghelia, " a message delivered in the name of any 
one : " euanghelion, therefore, signifies " a good message, which 
becomes " good news " to those previously unacquainted with it. 
It is styled " the gospel of God " (Rom. i. 1) ; because it is a good 
message, emanating from Him. It is also called " the gospel of the 
glory of the blessed God" (1 Tim. i. 11); because it is a good 
message of future glory, on account of which all who partake 
in it will call H5m blessed. It announces a good time coming, when 
" the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah shall fill the earth as the 
waters cover the sea " (Hab. ii. 14) ; for Jehovah sware to Moses, 
saying, " As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the 
glory of Jehovah." — (Num. xiv. 21). This is good news of glory 
from God to everyone who believes it. 

God's gospel is styled " the gospel of the kingdom " (Matt. iv. 
23 ; xxiv. 14 ; Mark i. 14, 15 ; Luke viii. 1) ; because He purposes 
to manifest His glory and blessedness through a kingdom He 
declares He will set up in the land lying between the Euphrates, 
Mediterranean, and Nile. 

The gospel of the kingdom, and " the great salvation spoken by 
the Lord," are the same thing. This is evident from the fact that 
the Lord Jesus, when he began to preach, did not make two separate 
proclamations. Throughout his ministry, he preached but one thing, 
which is variously expressed in the history of his career. Sometimes 
it is simply styled " the gospel " (Mark i. 15 ; viii. 35 ; xiii. 10 ; 
Luke iv. 18) ; at others, "the kingdom of God" (Luke iv. 43 ; ix. 
2, G) ; and Peter, in recalling the recollection of it to Cornelius' 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 3 

mind, says, " That Word ye know, which was published throughout 
all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which Jolm 
preached." — (Acts x. 37). In the previous verse he reminded him 
who began to preach this word from Galilee, and speaks of it as a 
message. His words are, "The word which God sent unto the 
children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, who is Lord of 
all : that word I say ye know." When we turn to the history " of 
all that Jesus began both to do and teach," we find that when he 
began to speak the great salvation, he commenced preaching the 
gospel of the kingdom of God in Galilee. The following is the 
testimony ; " Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into 
prison, he departed into Galilee. From that time Jesus began to 
preach, and to say, Eepent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at 
hand. And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their sjmagogues, 
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of 
sickness " — (Matt, iv 12, 17, 23.) The word sent, the gospel of the 
kingdom, and the great salvation, it is clear, all began to be preached 
" by Jesus at the same time, and in the same region of country ; 
they must, therefore, and can only be, the same thing under 
different modes of speech. A word sent is a message ; that 
word sent by Jesus Christ constitutes Him THE MESSENGER 
(Mai. iii. 1) : a messenger sent of God with good news to the 
childern of Israel about a kingdom, which they did not then possess, 
preaches that kingdom to them as a matter of promise, and therefore 
of hope ; so that the gospel of the kingdom is also styled " The Hope 
OF Israel," for which Paul says he was " bound with a chain." — 
(Acts xxviii. 20.) 

The kingdom of God is the great salvation, because through that 
kingdom the blessedness preached to Abraham as the gospel (Gal. iii. 
8), is to come upon all the nations of the earth, and by which they 
are to be saved from the power of those who destroy them, and to be 
placed under a righteous administration of divine law. God's 
kingdom is to save them ; for it is to " grind to powder and bring 
to an end all kingdoms," to fill the whole earth as a great mountain, 
and itself to stand for ever. — (Dan. ii. 35, 44.) This kingdom can 
only be set up by overthrowing " the powers that be ; " and as there 
can be no peace and blessedness for the nations until they are 
broken, the operation which abolishes them, establishes the 



4 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

destroying Stone Power, and saves the world with a great and 
glorious salvation. Who can doubt it, when the Scriptures say, 
referring to that era : " The King's son, Grod, shall judge Thy 
people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment ; He shall 
save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 
In His days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace as 
long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea 
to sea, and from the river to the ends of the land. They that 
dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him, and His enemies shall 
lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles (British) 
shall bring presents ; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 
Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him [being subdued] : all 
nations shall serve him. His name shall endure for the age ; his 
name shall be continued as long as the sun; and they shall be blessed 
in him — all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be Jehovah 
Elohim, the Elohim of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 
Blessed be the name of His glory for the age : yea, the whole earth 
shall be filled with His glory." — (Ps. Isxii.) 

The kingdom of God founded by Jehovah and His Christ is to 
establish this great salvation in the earth — a thorough and complete 
regeneration of the world. The kingdom is the cause of this ; the 
great salvation the result of its institution in the land promised to 
the fathers. But the gi-eatness of the salvation is not restricted to 
the future generations of the nations only ; it comprehends, in the 
magnitude of the deliverance it vouchsafes, the generations of the 
righteous among the dead fi-om Abel to the coming of Israel's king 
in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory. It saves the 
cloud of witnesses, of whom the world was never worthy, Avith an 
everlasting salvation in the kingdom ; and saves the nations from 
their temporal miseries and degTadations with a joyous and glorious 
redemption of a thousand years. " How shall we escape if we 
neglect so great a salvation" as this ? 

Now, the Bible reveals no other salvation than this — a deliverance 
of the righteous fi'om " the pit in which there is no water," by a 
resurrection from the dead ; a transformation of the living saints 
who may be contemporary with the second advent ; a restoration of 
the kingdom again to Israel under the New Covenant : and a 
redemption of the nations fi'om the social, civil and spiritual evils 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH.'' 6 

which now press so heavily upon them. This is the only salvation of 
which the gospel treats. It meets the necessities of the world. 
Humanity needs no other, and therefore none else has been provided. 
When the salvation has triumphed, it will be the accomplished fact 
of a thousand years, during which " the ends of the world shall 
remember and turn unto the Lord ; and all the kindreds of the 
nations shall worship before Him. For the kingdom is for Jehovah ; 
and He, the Governor among the nations." — (Ps. xxii. 27, 28.) 

When Jesus stood at Ceesar's bar, Pilate asked him : '■'■ Art thou the 
King of the Jeios ? " He answered : " my kingdom is not of this 
world ; if it were, then would my associates fight, that I should not 
be delivered to the Jews : but my kingdom is not from this now," 
Pilate therefore said to him : " At^t thou king, then ? " Jesus answered : 
'' Thou sayest ; for I am king. I was born for this (eis touto), and for 
this I came into the world, that I might witness to the truth. 
Every one who is of the truth hears my voice." Pilate said unto 
him : " What is truth ? " — (Jno. xviii. 37.) Ah, Pilate, thou, like 
myriads beside thee, knewest not that voice, though it was witnessed 
in thy presence. The truth was confessed (1 Tim. vi. 13) before 
thee, but thou didst not understand it, because thou wast not of the 
truth. Let the reader hear the voice of the king : " I came into the 
world that I might witness to the truth." Now hear what he says 
in another place : " I am sent to preach the kingdom of God." — 
(Luke iv. 43.) He preached it through the length and breadth of 
Judea, announcing to the people the kingdom of God, and that he 
was king thereof. He filled the land with the sound of his claims 
to the throne of David as the " born King of the Jews." — (Matt, 
ii. 2.) The people heard him gladly ; and, admitting his pretensions 
to be just, were ready for revolt against Cassar, and to make him 
king. — (John vi, 15.) The chief priests became alarmed at the 
current of the popular mind, and apprehended the interference 
of the Romans. — (John xi. 48.) They procured his apprehension at 
length, and accused him before Pilate of perverting the nation from 
its allegiance to Ceesar (Luke xxiii. 2), and atlirming that he was 
King of the Jews. (John xix. 21.) By the passage above quoted, 
we find Pilate endeavouring to elicit from him the truth of the 
matter. As if h'e said: " They charge you with saying that you are 
an Anointed One, a king, even the King of the Jews; is this the 



6 WHAT IS THE TEUTH ? 

truth f'' Jesus confessed, and denied not, although it was 
hazardous at the bar of Csesar, the de facto king of the Jews 
(John xix. 15), to aver that he was himself king by right. His life 
had been jeopardised thirty-five years and three months before by 
the inquiry — " Where is he that is born King of the Jews? " Herod, 
the reigning king of the Jews, who knew that the nation was 
expecting the birth of a Son of David, who was to reign over them 
for ever, was alarmed at the intimation that he was actually born. 
He saw that the right of David's Son and the interest of the 
Herodian dynasty were inimical. He therefore determined to destroy 
him, and so secure the kingdom to his own family by the Christ, or 
Anointed One's destruction. The same policy was at work at the 
condemnation of Jesus. Pilate was not only the representative of 
the Koman Majesty which had superseded the Herodian in Judea ; 
but the conservator of the rights of the reigning Csesar as King 
of the Jews. Satisfied that it was mere envy that moved 
the chief priests to accuse Jesus of treason against the Eoman 
power, his policy was to release him, and to appease their clamour. 
But the policy of the priests and elders was opposed to this. They 
saw clearly, that if Jesus ascended the throne of David, he would 
permit them to have no share in the honours and emoluments of the 
State. Hence it was with them, as with Herod, all-important to 
prevent him getting possession of the throne. They saw Pontius 
Pilate's unwillingness to condemn him, and concluded that the only 
way they could succeed in overcoming it would be to treat him 
hypothetically as a partaker in the Nazarene treason, and conse- . 
quently a traitor to Cesar's rights, which it was his business to 
conserve. This was their policy. Hence said they to the Procurator : 
" If thou let this man go, thou art not Csesar's friend ; whosoever 
maketh himself a king speaketh against Csesar." This settled the 
question in Pilate's mind. Though convinced of the faultlessness 
of Jesus, and of their malignity, self-preservation was a stronger 
law of his nature than justice. He concluded that it was better 
for Jesus to suffer death, though unworthy of it, than that he should 
lose his procuratorship, and perhaps his life, for misprision of treason. 
Had Jesus not confessed the truth, but repudiated all pretensions to 
the throne of Israel, Pilate could not have condemned him ; nay, 
would not, for there would have existed no ground upon which the 



"^YHAT IS THE TEITTH ? 7 

priests and elders could have predicated his want of friendship or 
loyalty to Csesar. It is true they said, " We have a law, and by 
our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." 
They regarded this as blasphemy ; but the Koman law took no 
cognisance of questions in Jewish theology. It had ceased to be 
lawful for the Jews to put any man to death (John xviii. 31), so 
that, however guilty he might have been of blasphemy in saying 
that he was the Son of Grod, neither the Jews nor the Roman law 
could have taken his life on that account. The good confession, 
therefore, he made before Pilate — " the truth'''' — to which he testified 
in his presence, and for which he was condemned and executed — 
was not that he was not the Son of G-od. Though true, it was not 
''Hhe truth''' — it was not the ground of his sentence unto 
death. 

" Art thou the King of the Jews ? " Had Jesus replied : "I am 
the Son of God," it wou:ld have been an evasion of the question, as 
every one not judicially blinded must see. If one were to ask 
another : " Are you a physician ? " — would it be answering the 
question to say : "I am the son of my father ?" King of the Jews is 
an official dignity ; Son of God personal nativity. Who is the King 
of the Jews ? He that says he is the Son of God, or some other 
person ? To assert that he was God's Son did not bring Jesus into 
collision with Csesar's rights ; but to affirm that he was Christ, a 
king — ^that is, the Anointed King of the Jews — constituted him at 
once Ceesar's rival in Judea. 

Though so dangerous a question, Jesus did not equivocate, or seek 
to evade the hazard it involved. When Pilate said : " Art thou the 
King of the Jews ? " He met his question by referring boldly and 
immediately to the truth about his kingdom. He had been pro- 
claiming this truth from Galilee throughout all Judea to Jerusalem, 
where he then stood ; he had heralded it forth from one end of the 
land to the other for three years and a-half in fulfilment of his 
mission ; for he came into the world to witness to the truth 
concerning the kingdom of God, of which he was the christened 
or anointed king ; and he was then prepared, with the full assurance 
that it would cost him his life, to confess before Pilate that he was 
the King of the Jews. Pilate so understood him when he said, in 
answer to his question — " My kingdom.'''' Jesus was a Jew, and a 



8 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

Jew could have no claim to any kingdom but that of his own 
nation. King of the Jewish nation. Thus Pilate, the Roman 
soldiers, the Chief Priests, and Scribes (Mark xv. 31, 32), understood 
him to confess; and therefore the reason of his condemnation to 
death. The title he assumed was labelled to his cross in Hebrew, 
Greek, and Latin— "Jesus of Nazareth, THE KING OF THE 
JEWS. 

In suifering death because of his claim to the throne of Israel, 
Jesus, the Son of God and Son of David, sealed " the gospel of the 
kingdom," and the covenant of that kingdom, with his blood. He 
was born King of Israel, and he suffered death because he 
maintained his right to the royalty. He was anointed to be king, 
and a prophet, to preach the gospel or glad tidings of his reign 
over the twelve tribes of Israel, and the obedient nations of the 
earth, for a thousand years. With him and his apostles, to " preach 
the kingdom of God " was to " preach the gospel." There could 
be no gospel without the kingdom — even this same particular 
kingdom, this Jewish kingdom in Palestine, than which the living 
God has caused to be evangelised no other. A gospel of a kingdom 
or kingdoms beyond the skies — of an everlasting kingdom there 
for disembodied ghosts, and a present church-kingdom of grace 
among carnal, scoffing, faithless professors here — we deliberately, 
and under pain of eternal damnation, if in error, we boldly, 
conscientiously, and confidently affirm, that there is no such gospel 
to be found in the oracles of God. Such a gospel as this — the 
popular gospel of the age — was never preached to Jew or Gentile by 
John, Jesus, or the apostles. The Lord of Israel bore witness to no 
such gospel before Pilate. He did not testify that he was a king of 
a sky-kingdom ; but king of the Jewish nation upon earth, where 
alone it exists, or ever will exist. His is the royalty of this nation, 
taking its root in the covenant made with David, which is 
everlasting, and can never be annulled ; for Jehovah hath declared : 
" Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. 
His seed shall be for the age, and his throne as the sun before me." 
— (Ps. Ixxxix. 35, 36.) 

For three years and a half, Jesus fulfilled his mission as prophet 
to Israel in preacliing the gospel of the kingdom. He began, as we 
have seen, in Galilee, soon after his being anointed of God with 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 9 

the Holy Spirit and power. He visited the synagogues, and among 
them, that at Nazareth. Being there on a certain occasion, he read 
from the 61st of Isaiah the words recorded in the fourth of Luke. 
Alluding to his anointing, he read, " The spirit of Jehovah is upon 
me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; 
— to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Jehovah's 
anointing him to preach the gospel is equivalent to saying, 
Jehovah sent him to preach. There is no necessity to prove 
this. It is obvious. In sending him, then, to preach the gospel, 
what was he to preach as the basis of the good news to the 
poor? This question is answered in two places, in this 
chapter ; he was sent to preach the acceptable year of Jehovah ; 
or, which is the same thing, he was "sent to preach the 
kingdom of God" — (verse 43). Peter told Cornelius that he 
was sent to preach this word to the children of Israel. Hence 
it is styled "the word of the kingdom" — (Matt. xiii. 19) — upon the 
understanding of which men's salvation is predicated. — (Mark xvi. 
15, 16.) But why is the gospel of the kingdom, and the acceptable 
year of Jehovah, or age to come, preached to the poor, rather than to 
the rich? The reason is, because " God hath chosen the poor of this 
world, RICH IN FAITH, to be heirs of that kingdom which He hath 
promised to them that love Him." — (James ii. 5.) " He fills the hungry 
with good things, and the rich He sends empty away " (Luke i. 63) ; 
because the present life is the season of their enjoyment." — (Luke 
xvi. 25.) 

When Paul was writing about " the great salvation which began 
to be spoken by the Lord" (Heb ii. 1, 5), he says he was speaking 
about " the future habitable " which is to be subjected to the Son, 
and not to angels, as it is at present. Speaking of the present 
habitable, or " civilised " part of the earth, he says : "But now we see 
not yet all things put under him." No ; if we did, we should see him 
king over the whole earth. — (Zee. xiv. 9.) All the kingdoms of the 
world would be his, and " all nations would serve him." — (Rev. xi. 
15.) The future habitable subjected to the Son, is the dominion of 
the acceptable year of Jehovah ; when the kingdom shall be 
existent in the plenitude of its glory, ruling over all. Jesus and 
his brethren, all Sons of God, and the Seed of David by adoption, 
through Jesus, though recipients of evil things in their primary 



10 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

existence, will possess the dominion of the future habitable " under 
the whole heaven" — ^not above it, " beyond the skies." This is good 
news to the poor — ^the gospel Jesus was anointed to preach ; the 
great salvation confirmed by the apostles who heard it preached ; 
and attested of God by signs, wonders, divers miracles, and dis- 
tributions of the Holy Spirit, manifested through them. 

The context of the testimony from which Jesus selected the 
reading in the synagogue at Nazareth, exhibits the glad tidings or 
gospel of the kingdom he preached to the meek of the children of 
Israel. It promises them "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; that 
they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, 
that He might be glorified." This series of beautiful antitheses 
presents to us in contrast the present and future states of the poor 
who receive the gospel of the kingdom. Now, but mourning, 
heavy-hearted dust and ashes ; in the age to come, they shall be 
beauteous and joyous, giving praise and glory to Jehovah as immor- 
tals only can bestow it. With respect to their nation — for the word 
was primarily sent to Israel — " they shall build the old wastes, they 
shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the 
waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And foreigners 
shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be 
yom- ploughmen, and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the 
priests of Jehovah ; men shall call you the ministers of our God ; ye 
shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye ' boast 
yourselves." Let the enquirer read from the 20th verse of the 59th 
chapter of Isaiah, to the end of the 62nd chapter, and he will read 
the good things promised to Israel, and evangelised in the Word 
sent to them of God by Jesus Christ. They are but a sample of the 
good things in store for the nation, which, in its future glory, is the 
Sarah, the princess of nations, the married wife, of its Creator. Then 
" Jehovah will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their 
seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among 
the people : all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are 
the seed which the Lord had blessed," This joy and blessedness of 
the nation is inseparable from the glory of their king. To him, 
under Jehovah, they will owe all the peace and happiness they enjoy. 
The rejoicing will be mutual. The nation will rejoice in its king, 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 11 

and " as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall he rejoice 
over Jerusalem," the Holy City of his realm. In view of the great 
deliverance Jehovah bestows upon His king, he that was anointed to 
preach the gospel to Israel says : "I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah: 
my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with 
the garments of salvation ; He hath covered me with the robe of 
righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and 
as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth 
bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things sown in 
it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and 
praise to spring forth before all nations " — when the righteous dead 
shall bud and spring forth of the earth, to praise and glorify His 
name. 

The Word of the Truth of the Gospel of the Kingdom — though a 
long title to the message borne by Jesus to the children of Israel — ■ 
will be easily understood by the enquirer from what has gone before. 
It imports the Law and the Testimony that sets forth the promises 
which make the message relating to the kingdom good news. Paul 
says that " the hope laid up in heaven " is reported of in the word of 
the truth of the Gospel ; and therefore he styles it " the hope of the 
Gospel;'^ and as there is but one true gospel, though many false 
ones, there is but one true hope, which he terms " one hope of the 
calling.'^ — (Col. i. 6, 23 ; Eph. iv. 4.) A hope is something in the 
future, promised but not possessed. The callingis a particular invita- 
tion ; and the one hope of the calling, the promised thing to the 
possession of which you are especially invited. This being the 
meaning of the phrase, and seeing that the hope belongs to the 
Gospel, it follows that the Gospel contains an invitation or call to 
the possession of some particular thing. The one hope of the calling 
of the Gospel — what is it ? Paul says, " God hath called you to His 
kingdom and glory." — (1 Thess. ii. 12). Then the kingdom and 
glory are the hope of the called ; that is, of those who accept the 
invitation. The kingdom and glory are the one hope of their 
calling. The word which God sent to the children of Israel by 
Jesus Christ, was an invitation to them to possess His kingdom and 
glory, of which He had said so much in the prophets, upon certain 
conditions. Jehovah's kingdom and glory, under Messiah's admin- 
istration, was the great hope of the nation. It was the hope of 



12 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

Israel, and of Israel alone. No other nation shared with them in 
this hope. It was the hope of the restoration of the kingdom again 
to Israel (Acts i. 6), under a new and better covenant than the 
Mosaic — ^the hope of the restitution of all things spoken of by the 
prophets. — (Acts iii. 21.) This is the hope promised to the fathers, 
and evangelised in the word of the kingdom, and therefore the Gos- 
pel's hope, by which we are saved. — (Rom. viii. 24.) Expunge this 
hope from the Gospel, and it ceases to be Gospel, for it is the hope 
that makes the tidings glad, and the news good ; in short, there 
would be no tidings to report, if the hope of the kingdom and glory 
were suppressed. 

Jehovah is the accepted king of Israel (1 Sam. xii. 12), and 
Israel therefore his nation. — (Exod. xix. 6 ; Isaiah li. 4). He formed 
it for Himself, that through it He might show forth his praise. — 
(Isaiah xliii. 21.) The prophet says of Israel : " We are Thine, 
Lord ; Thou never barest rule over our adversaries : they were not 
called by Thy name." The kingdom of God is His dominion over 
this nation. It is, therefore, a Jewish Kingdom. Jehovah never 
owned any other kingdom upon earth. He acquired the Jewish 
kingdom by creation ; and purposes to obtain possession of all other 
kingdoms by conquest, because they are mere usurpations, and 
adversaries of His nation. He intends His kingdom to be ruled by 
a Vicegerent in His name, whom He styles " My kin^,"^, (Psalm ii. 
6), and by him to subdue the world, so that all thrones and domin- 
ions, principalities and powers, may become His. This being 
accomplished, the Twelve Tribes of Israel will constitute " the first 
dominion " in actual organised possession of their own country — 
the kingdom proper. This kingdom will rule over ali other nations, 
which in the aggregate will form the secondary dominion or empire. 
Thus a family of nations will be created, of which Abraham, then 
risen from the dead, will be the federal father, and Israel, the First 
Born. (Exodus iv. 22). 

This kingdom and dominion which Jehovah and His king are to 
set up, are to exist unchanged for a thousand years, at the end of 
which things will occur which do not pertain to the Gospel of the 
kingdom, though they affect the kingdom itself. The kingdom is 
imperishable, and non-transferable from one set of rulers to another: 
" it shall not be left to another people." This is an important 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 13 

feature in the Gospel. If it could be transferred from hand to hand, 
then flesh and blood might inherit it ; but it cannot be transferred, 
therefore "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of Grod." 
They who are promoted to the possession of the kingdom at its 
establishment, are to retain its honours, glory, power and emoluments 
the whole thousand years, and as long afterwards as it exists, which 
will be for ever. Can flesh and blood, that dies and turns to dust 
after three-score years and ten, possess such a kingdom ? Impossible. 
What, then, is indispensable to the inheriting of this kingdom? 
That the heirs God has chosen to possess it, be made immortal. This 
necessity God has promised to fulfil in promising to give them " the 
kingdom under the whole heaven for an age, even for the age and ages." 
Hence the Gospel call to the kingdom and its glory, is equally a call to 
eternal life ; and the hope of the kingdom, consequently, the hope 
of eternal life and glory, which are all comprehended in the " Hope 
of the Gospel," which is said to be "laid up in heaven," and 
" reserved in heaven," because he who is to convert the hope into 
a received gift, is there. " Our life," says Paul, " is hid with Christ 
in God. And when Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall we also 
appear with him in glory " — the life, the glory, the kingdom, are all 
bestowed at one epoch : "-Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, 
be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought 
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." — (1 Pet. i. 13). 

" Salvation is of the Jews." — (John iv. 22). And this salva- 
tion, which is very great, is announced, through the Gospel of God's 
Jewish kingdom. The salvation is national — or hosmical rather — • 
and individual. The salvation of the world of nations through the 
kingdom, is social, civil and ecclesiastical, or spiritual ; and is best 
perceived by those who comprehend the work of setting-up the 
kingdom. The obstacles to the world's regeneration must first be 
removed. These obstacles are " the powers that be." Israel and 
the saints, under the Captain of Salvation will abolish them. Their 
removal being effected, " he will speak peace to the nations," which 
they will joyfully accept, and submitting to his terms, will henceforth 
" rejoice with His people Israel," — (Deut. xxxii. 43). 

All that Jehovah proposes to bestow on men, he intends to impart 
through this kingdom alone. Hence, if a man obtain the kingdom, 
he obtains everything ; but if he be counted unworthy of it, he 



14 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

gets nothing. Does lie desire eternal life, eternal honour, eternal 
glory, equality with the angels, wisdom, knowledge, riches, power, 
and dominion ? Let him " seek the kingdom of God and His 
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto him." What 
said Jesus to his apostles, when Peter asked him what recompense 
of reward they should have, who had forsaken all and followed 
him? Did he tell them that, when they died, their disembodied 
spirits should be borne aloft on angels' wings, to mansions in the 
skies? Did he tell them they should meet their friends and 
children there, and feast, and dance, and sing, enraptured in eternal 
ecstacy ? He abused their reason with no such pagan foolishness 
as this ; but said, " Verily I say to you, that ye who have followed 
me, shall, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the 
throne of his glory, also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
tribes of Israel." — (Matt. xix. 28.) He promised them a joint 
rulership with himself in a kingdom, and that kingdom, Gtd's 
kingdom of the Jews. "Ye are they," said he, "who have 
continued with me in my trials. And I covenant unto you, as my 
Father hath covenanted unto me, a kingdom ; that ye may eat and 
drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the 
tribes of Israel." — ^(Luke xxii. 28-30.) This was to be their reward 
in the age to come (en to aioni to erchomeno), with eternal life. — 
(Mark x. 30.) The kingdom, therefore, was everything to them. 
Jesus taught them to pray to the Father, saying, " Thy kingdom 
come ; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven ; deliver us 
from evil, because the kingdom is Thine, the power, and the glory, 
for the age." He instructed them in the mysteries or hidden things 
of the kingdom (Matt. xiii. 11) ; and after he arose from the dead, 
having opened their understandings, that they might understand 
the Scriptures, he conversed with them during the forty days 
preceding his ascension, " on the things pertaining to the kingdom 
of Grod." Under the influence of this divine teaching, they became 
full of the matter. " The gospel " and " the kingdom " were with 
them convertible terms. They knew of no gospel without it. The 
resurrection was the door of entrance into the kingdom. They 
desired to rise from the dead, that they might possess it ; for they 
knew that if they did not " inherit the kingdom prepared from the 
foundation of the world " (Matt. xxv. 34), there would be for them 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 15 

neither glory, honour, nor eternal life in the age to come. It is, 
therefore, not to be wondered at, that the last question they should 
put to the resurrected king of the Jews before his departure from 
the earth, should be to know when he would restore again the 
kingdom to Israel." — (Acts i. 3, 6.) That it would be restored, 
there was no question ; for " the regeneration," or " restitution of 
all things," was the first principle of Christ's teaching, and of their 
own faith and preaching afterwards. What they wanted to know 
was — the time when the restitution of all things belonging to the 
kingdom of Israel should be accomplished. "Wilt thou at this 
time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" They, doubtless, 
thought that the time to favour Zion had certainly then come. 
They knew that Jesus had been put to death for maintaining that 
he was " the king of the Jews ;" and they saw that Grod approved 
his claim to David's throne in delivering him from the death he 
incurred, by confessing his rightful claim to the kingdom. Could 
any time, then, be more opportune than the present, to call to his 
aid those " twelve legions of angels," which he said the Father 
would give him, and at their head, to expel the Eomans from Judea, 
and re-establish Israel's kingdom under his own rule, as the 
hereditary representative of the house of David, and " King of the 
Jews?" They were right in expecting the restoration, but they 
erred in looking for it at that time. All things were not ready. 
The king was provided, but where was the household ? — where were 
his body-guards? — where were they who were to co-operate with 
him in the administration of his kingdom and government of the 
world ? Some say, " They were in their gi-aves — to wit, the fathers 
or saints who had died under the law." " These might have been 
raised from the dead and associated with Jesus in the kingdom." 
Bui it was written in the word : " Instead of thy fathers shall be 
thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth." — 
(Ps. xlv. 16.) This is said to the Messiah, in a psalm which Paul 
applies to Jesus. Hence, whatever place his fathers may occupy 
in the kingdom, they will not be its "princes" or chiefs, ruling with 
Jesus as " Prince of princes," over the nations of the world ; besides 
that, we apprehend there will not be a sufficient number saved, from 
the generations of Israel previous to the resurrection of the king of 
the Jews, to supply the administrative demands of the kingdom 



16 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

under its new constitution, or covenant. That all things were not 
ready, is represented in the parable of a certain man who made a 
great supper, and bade many. His object was to have his house 
filled^ that his supper might be eaten. He sent invitations to various 
classes, but though the supper was ready to be partaken of when 
the first class were invited, the eating of it was deferred until the 
seats provided were all occupied by guests, procured by several 
subsequent endeavours to obtain them. — (Luke xiv. 15-24.) 

The union of the King of the Jews with the kingdom is the 
marriage of the king's son ; and the sitting at the table in the 
kingdom — the possession of it — is the eating of the marriage supper 
in the " certain man's house." The kingdom is Jehovah's house, 
into which He invites guests, that they may partake of the good 
things therein provided. He wills that His house shall he filled by 
the assembling of all the guests before the supper be eaten. Israel 
were bidden, being politically "the children of the kingdom." 
Jehovah called them by His prophets to the life and glory of His 
kingdom, but they would not harken (Jer. vii. 13); He invited by 
John, but they made light of it ; He sent them a message by Jesus, 
but they killed him ; and lastly. He urged the invitation upon them 
by the apostles and a great company, but " they entreated them 
spitefully, and slew them." Thus, with comparatively few 
exceptions, Israel treated Jehovah's call to His kingdom and glory. 
His feast of fat things, and wines on the lees well refined, were 
amply provided, but still they were not sufficient of Israel to occupy 
the seats. There was still room. The kingdom could not be set up 
until occupants were provided for the empty places. Seeing, 
therefore, that Israel turned a deaf ear to the invitations, the 
apostles were ordered to go to the Gentiles that dwelt in the streets 
and lanes of the city, and even the highways and hedges of the 
nations, that the house of the kingdom might be filled with as 
many as the nature of the case required. 

Though the materials of the house were all ready at the 
resurrection of the King of the Jews, it will be perceived, from 
what has gone before, that the household had still to be formed. 
Till this had been formed and reconciled, the kingdom could not be 
established. It was the work of the apostles and others to collect 
this household together — to call out from Israel and the nations, a 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 17 

people numerous enough to fill all the official places of a kingdom 
that is to rule all the nations, languages and tribes of the earth. 
The time was not come then, to " restore the kingdom again to Israel " 
before the ascension, A long time was to elapse before the restitu- 
tion, to afford scope for the work of separating the heirs 
of the kingdom from the undistinguished multitude of the 
world. The King of Israel directed the attention of his ambassadors 
to this work, instead of gratifying their curiosity about the time of 
the restoration, which the Father had not thought proper to reveal to 
them. He told them they should be witnesses for him. They should 
receive power after the Holy Spirit had come upon them. Thus 
qualified, they would have to demonstrate that Grod had raised him 
from the dead ; that he was the man ordained of Jehovah in right- 
eousness, as the prophets had of old declared [Jer. xxiii. 5-8 ; Ps. 
xcvi. 13 ; Dan. vii. 13, 14 ; Zech. xiv.], and to proclaim the conditions 
upon which both Jews and Grentiles might inherit with him, the 
kingdom and eternal glory. 

What we have said may be regarded as an outline of the great 
salvation as exhibited in the gospel of the kingdom of Grod. It can 
hardly be regarded as anything more, seeing that the Bible, as 
a whole, is the Booh of the kingdom, and therefore an exhibition of 
the gospel in detail. The details of the gospel are set forth under 
certain heads, summarily styled " the things of the Jcingdom.'^ — 
(Acts viii. 12.) The country where the kingdom is to be established 
occupies a distinguished place among the " the things." A great 
deal is said about it of a highly important and interesting character. 
Indeed, the testimony concerning the territory and throne of the 
kingdom are so intimately connected with the gospel, that a person 
cannot believe the gospel, and be ignorant of it ; for the territory 
and throne are principal subjects of the covenant made with 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the covenant made with David. 
These are the ^^ covenants of promise,'' which the ignorant, and, 
consequently, unbelieving, are '•'■ strmigersfromy — (Eph. ii. 12.) It 
is useless to talk about believing the gospel, and at the same time to 
be ignorant of these and of their true import ; for they contain the 
gospel. The writings of the apostles and prophets teach that the 
territory of the kingdom of the heavens is the land in which 
Abraham dwelt with Isaac and Jacob, and tended his flocks and 



18 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

herds ; the subjects of the kingdom, Abraham's descendants in the 
line of Isaac and Jacob ; the King, one of his seed, the antitype of 
Isaac when he died and rose again " in a figure " (Eph. ii. 12) ; the 
throne, David's in Zion and Jerusalem ; the empire, all nations of 
the earth in a state of blessedness ; the duration of the kingdom, 
without change " for the age." 

The heaven that the gospel proclaims is a heavenly kingdom upon 
the earth. The kingdom is heavenly, because it is created and 
established by the Grod of heaven, and ruled by a King from heaven, 
and destined to rule " the heavens," or kingdoms of the world. 
Because it is God's kingdom, it is sometimes stjded a theocracy — a 
government under the immediate direction of God. The kingdom 
of Israel was a theocracy, and the gospel kingdom is that theocracy 
restored under a constitution so amended as to be styled " a new 
and better covenant." Under the old theocracy, the rulers and ruled 
were all flesh and blood, and therefore mortal ; but under the 
RESTORED THEOCRACY, the members of the government, and the peers 
of the realm, with the King, will be immortal ; while the people, 
both of Israel and the nations, will be subject to death, until death 
shall be abolished at the end of the thousand years. 

THE CONDITIONS OE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 

•'Pray for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my 
mouth boldly to make known the Mj'stery of the Gospel, for which I am an 
ambassador in bonds."— Paul to the Ephesians. 

If a man believe that in the age to come a "kingdom and 
dominion," such as the gospel exhibits, will exist upon the earth, 
and that men to whom it has been preached in ages previous to its 
establishment will rise from the dead to possess it, or to be judged 
with due severity for refusing to believe what God has revealed 
concerning it — he will spontaneously inquire : " What must I do 
that I may inherit glory, honour, and eternal life in the kingdom of 
God ? " This question is equivalent to saying : " What must I do to 
be saved ?" — for, if a man possess these things in that kingdom — that 
is, "inherit the kingdom" — he is saved from sin, corruptibility, and 
death ; in short, from all evil from which he needs to be delivered. 
The answer to this question, so transcendantly important to all, is 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 19 

exhibited in " tlie Mystery of the G-ospel," which may, therefore, be 
said to contain the conditions of salvation. 

The gospel of the kingdom, then, has a mystery connected with it. 
By a mystery is meant a thing kept secret, and hid from mankind 
until revealed. The gospel was preached to Abraham; but its 
mystery was not preached until the day of Pentecost. The revelation 
made through Peter on that day, was " the revelation of the mystery," 
which, says Paul, " was kept secret since the world began." — (Rom. 
xvi. 25.) The apostolic preaching of Jesus Christ was the revelation 
of the mystery ; the Old Testament exhibition of the truth was, " the 
gospel of (aodi promised afore by the prophets, in the Holy Scriptures." 
— (Rom. i. 2.) The gospel is revealed there without mystery. The 
things of the kingdom and the sufferings and resurrection of its king 
are plainly revealed; but the use to be made of those sufferings in their 
precise and especial adaptation to the consciences of gospel believers, 
in giving them the answer of a good conscience towards Grod, was "the 
hidden wisdom of Grod in amystery" — it was not revealed. Itwas"the 
salvation of souls ; the initiative of that salvation, which ends in the 
participation of the joy and glory of the Lord — " a salvation of which the 
prophets inquired and searched diligently, searching what, or what 
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, 
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that 
should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but 
unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto 
you hy them who have preached the gospel unto you 
which things the angels desired to look into." — (1 Pet. i. 10-12.) 
But the prophets and angels could not succeed in discovering the 
secret. It was impenetrable. With all the aid at their command, 
they could not find it out ; for it was a " mystery hidden from the 
ages and the generations," and intended to be concealed until the 
time appointed for its manifestation to the saints by the preaching 
of the apostles. — (Col. i. 26.) 

But though the mystery of the gospel ceased to be a secret after 
the day of Pentecost, it still continued to be called the mystery. 
This, we apprehend, was to keep before the believer's mind the 
remembrance of the nature of the things specially pertaining to 
Jesus, and to his conscience before God, which had been directly 
revealed to him through the apostles. As if one should say to 



20 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

anottier : " I will tell you the secret." He tells it ; and referring to 
it at some future time, he says ; " You remember the secret on account 
of which I have suffered greatly." Here the thing would be called 
a secret, although it ceased to be such as soon as told. 

The mystery is based upon a few fulfilled gospel predictions. It was 
foretold by the prophets, that the King of the Jews who should 
reign over them and all the nations for ever, " should pour out his 
soul unto death " as " an offering for sin," as the result of his being 
wounded and bruised for the transgressions and iniquities of Grod's 
people ; that though numbered with transgressors, in coming to 
his death, in the rich man's sepulchre should be his tomb (Isaiah 
liii. 9), and that he should awake early (Ps. Ivii. 3, 8) in the 
morning from the sleep of death without seeing corruption, to the 
enjoyment of life and pleasures for evermore. — [Ps. xvi. 10, 11.] 
These testimonies predicted the death, bm'ial, and resurrection of 
the King of the Jews, or the Christ, which is the same thing. In 
the fulness of time, Jesus came ; and having established his right 
to the throne of David, died, was buried, and rose again. The 
things concentrated in these facts being accomplished, this partial 
fulfilment leaves all the rest of the gospel still a matter of promise. 
This unfulfilled portion of gospel is its hope ; which, with the facts 
and mystery based upon them, is the subject-matter of " the faith " 
which justifies. 

" The mystery of the seven stars, and the seven golden lamps. 
The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches ; and the 
seven lamps are the seven churches." We quote this text to show 
the use of the word " mystery." It is evidently employed here 
for meaning : the hidden meaning of the seven stars is the 
messengers of the seven churches — ^the seven lamps mean or signify 
the seven churches. The mystery of the gospel is the meaning or 
signification of its accomplished facts, as interpreted by Jehovah ; 
and, by his authority concentrated in an institution, through which 
the benefits of those facts may be imparted to those who believe the 
gospel of the kingdom, and its mystery. 

The mystery revealed through the apostles, though unknown to the 
prophets and angels, was then, as it is now, still an element of the 
gospel of the kingdom. It was there when preached to Abraham, 
but hidden ; it is there yet, only revealed. The gospel of the 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 21 

kingdom is the major term ; the mystery the lesser. The gospel of 
the kingdom contains the mystery ; but the mystery does not contain 
the gospel of the kingdom. Hence, Jesus did not say : " Gro into all 
the world, and preach the mystery of the gospel ; he that believes 
the mystery and is baptised, shall be saved ; " but, " Go and preach 
the gospel;" for he that believed this, apostolically ministered, would 
believe the gospel of the kingdom, its facts and mystery. 

" Seek ye first the kingdom of God," said Jesus. To seek a 
certain thing first implies that there is something else to be sought 
afterward ; we may then enquire : " What next shall we seek ? " 
To this, the great Teacher replies: "*And God's righteousness." 
What is this ? It is that " robe of righteousness " He has 
provided for the covering of those who have sought the kingdom 
and have found it. — (Isai xli. 10.) It is God's sin covering (Ps. 
xxxii. 1, 2), the robe made white in the blood of the Lamb (Kev. vii. 

14 ; xix. 8), the righteousness of God witnessed by the Law and the 
Prophets, through belief of Jesus Christ, for all and upon all believing 
the gospel. — (Eom. iii. 21, 22 ; i. 15, 16). The righteousness of God 
is " the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," which He has appointed 
for those who believe the gospel of the kingdom. He has sent him 
forth as a hlood-sprinhled mercy, seat, through faith in which they 
may have remission of past sins, and be thus invested with the 
wedding garment. — (Mat. xxii. 11-14). Those who are not covered 
with the robe of righteousness which God has constructed ; or being 
covered, do not " keep their garments," that is, preserve their robes 
from defilement — are said in Scriptures to vjcdh naked. — (Eev. 'xvi. 

15 ; iii. 17, 18). Believers and unbelievers, who have not put on 
the robe of God's righteousness, are clothed in filthy rags of scarlet 
or crimson dye, and may say with Israel, as at present circumstanced, 
" We are all unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." 
They are uncovered with the garments of salvation, and having no 
clothing but things of their own invention, are naked before God, 
and certain, if they remain so, to be put to shame at the coming of 
His king. 

Jesus the Christ, or Anointed King of Israel, is the righteousness 
of those who, believing the gospel of the kingdom and its mystery, 
put him on. — (Gal. iii. 27.) Hence in regard to them, he is styled 
" Jehovah our Righteousness." — (Jer. xxiii. 6). When a believer 



22 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

puts him on, he is said to be " in him,'' and when in him, to be 
"constituted the righteousness of Grod in Him." — (2 Col. v. 21). 
Seek, then, in the first place, to understand the Word of the king- 
dom (Matt. xiii. 23, 13-15) ; and after accomplishing that, seek to 
be constituted the righteousness of Grod in its King ; and all things 
shall be added to you. — (Matt. vi. 33.) This is the order laid down 
by Jesus, an order which cannot be improved. 

All the sufferings of the apostles inflicted by their own country- 
men, were on account of the mystery of the gospel. Israel, like the 
angels and prophets, were ignorant of this hidden element of their 
hope ; and when it was demonstrated by the apostles, they would 
not receive it. The mystery was as much a part of the hope of 
Israel as the kingdom. It was the mystery of the hope as well as 
the mystery of the gospel ; for before Christ came, the gospel was 
all a matter of hope ; so that the mystery was hidden in the hope of 
the nation, as the greater includes the less. This identity of " the 
mystery of Christ " with the hope of Israel, is apparent ft'om the 
reason assigned by the apostle for his loss of liberty. In writing to 
the Ephesians, Paul says, " For the mystery of the gospel I am an 
ambassador in bonds ; " to the Colossians also he says, " For the 
TYvystery of Christ I am in bonds ; " and to the elders of the syna- 
gogue at Eome he said, " For the hope of Israel am I bound with 
this chain." — (Eph. vi. 19 ; Col. iv. 3 ; Acts xxviii. 20.) Now the 
apostle was not an ambassador in chains for three different things, 
but for one thing, even for " the hope and resurrection of the dead." 
" I stand," said he, " and am judged for the hope of the promise 
made of God unto our fathers, unto which our twelve tribes, instantly 
serving Grod day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake 
I am accused of the Jews." — [Acts xxvi. 6, 7 ; xsiii. 6]. This hope 
of the Twelve Tribes, or hope of Israel, proclaimed in the name of 
Jesus as King of the Jews, was the sole ground of the apostle's 
tribulation. He suffered for nothing else ; it is therefore clear that 
the mystery of the gospel, " the mysteries of the kingdom," and 
the mystery of Christ, are but different forms of speech expressive 
of the same thing. 

The mystery, then, is the meaning of the gospel facts concentrated 
into a focus of power, which is The Name of Jesus, "than which there 
is none other under heaven given among men, whereby they can be 



WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 23 

saved." His name comprehends everything that can be scripturally 
affirmed of him. It is a part o£ his name that he is that Son of 
David who was to be also Scm of God, and King of the Jews on 
David's throne for the age. This is tantamount to saying that 
Jesus is the Christ. This truth is the foundation corner stone [Eph. 
ii. 20,] of the mystery. It is also part of his name that his " blood 
cleanses from all sin," through his resurrection from the dead, those 
who believe the gospel ; for " he was delivered for their offences, 
and raised again for their justification. — [Rom. iv. 25.] The believer 
of the gospel of the kingdom, then, who with an honest and good 
heart believes also that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living 
God ; that a fountain was opened in his blood for sin and for 
uncleanness [Zech. xiii. 1], when he suffered death upon the accursed 
tree ; that he was buried ; and that he rose again upon the third 
day, according to the Scriptures, for the justification of the faithful 
unto eternal life ; such a one believes the gospel in its hope, facts, 
and mystery, and is prepared to become "the righteousness of God," 
by putting on, and so becoming an element of, the Name of Jesus 
Christ. A believer who is constituted the righteousness of God in 
Jesus, is one to whom repentance and the remission of sins has been 
granted in his name. The institution of the name is the sin-cleansing 
mystery of the gospel of the kingdom. Such a thing had never 
been heard of before in Israel. They had heard of John's baptism : 
" the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ; " but of 
repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of 
sins — ^this was a secret which prophet nor angel had ever heard 
till the Holy Spirit revealed it on Pentecost by the mouth of Peter. — 
[Acts ii. 38]. 

But how does a sinner become the subject of repentance and the 
remission of sins in the name of Jesus ? How does he put on and 
become a constituent of the name ? There is but one way of 
accomplishing this indispensable and essential necessity, or con- 
dition of salvation. He must first become a believer of the hope, 
facts, and mystery of the gospel ; for without faith — a faith that 
works by love and purifies the heart — it is impossible to 
please God. — (Heb. xi. 6 ; Acts xv. 9 ; Gal. v. 6.) Being thus 
prepared, he may then be immersed into the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This act unites the believer of 



24 WHAT IS THE TRUTH? 

the true gospel to the Name ; so that in being united, his faith and 
child-like disposition are counted to him for repentance and 
remission of sins, and he becomes an heir of the kingdom and glory 
of God, which are promised to him for ever. Thus, "he that believes 
the gospel and is baptised, shall be saved ; and he that believeth not, 
shall be condemned." — (Mark xvi. 15, 16.) 

In conclusion, then, the great salvation exhibited in the gospel of 
the kingdom is national and individual. As a national salvation, 
it delivers the nations from those that oppress them; suppresses 
vice, superstition, and crime ; restrains evil ; abolishes war ; 
establishes justice and righteousness in the earth ; and consummates 
a social regeneration of the world, which shall be " glory in the 
highest heavens to God ; over earth, peace and goodwill among 
men." 

As an individual salvation, it saves believers of the gospel 
promises, facts, and mystery, from sin, sins, and the wages of sin, 
which is death. It saves them from sins which are past, when they 
become the subject of repentance and remission in the name of 
Jesus ; and it saves them from sin in the flesh, and the consequences 
of it, when they arise from the death-state to possess the kingdom 
of God. This is a great and wonderful deliverance ; a salvation 
from all the ills of flesh, personal and relative. What possibility 
is there of escape, if this be neglected ? We know of none. The 
Bible reveals none ; and a salvation-doctrine not inscribed in light 
upon its sacred page, is unworthy of a wise man's consideration. 



WILLIAM H. DAVIS, PRINTER, NEEDLESS ALLEY, BIRMINGHAM. 



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THE CHRISTADELPHIAN HYMN BOOK: psalms, hymns and anthems; 236pp., 

cloth, ls8d. ; leather, 2s2d., post free; in America, 75 cents and 93 cents. 
THE DECLARATION; the Truth defined in a series of Propositions, with proof- 
texts in fuU; 52 pp., 3d., post free ; in America, 10 cents. 
DISCUSSION ON THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL, between R. Roberts 

and R. C. Nightingale ; 8d.. post free ; in America, 30 cents. 
THE GOOD CONFESSION: elaborated in a cimversation between a Christadelphian 

and a believing stranger desiring to be immersed into the name of Christ; 

by R. Roberts, 3r^d., post free ; in America, 16 cents. 
CHRISTADELPHIAN TRACTS; a progressive series of 4-page papers on the 

Truth ; by R. Roberts, ls8d. per 100, post free ; in America, 88 cents. 
CHRISTADELPHIAN SHIELD ; serial papers in answer to orthodox arguments 

against the Truth ; by J. J. Andrew, London; ^d. per copy, or 12 copies post 

free; in America, ;!5 cents. 
MISCELLANEOUS PAMPHLETS.— The Kingdom of God, 2^d., or 10 cents— God 

Manifestation, 2^d., or 10 cents— Record of the Birmingham Ecclesia, 4|d., or 

16 cents— Bible Companion, 2|d., or 10 cents- The Way of Truth, l^d., or 

7 cents— Odology, l^d., or 7 cents— all post free. 



L'BRARY OF CONGRESS 



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